NASCAR insider wishes Damaged Vehicle Policy had been changed for 2024

A NASCAR insider would have loved to see NASCAR change the Damage Vehicle Policy (DVP) before the 2024 season began. On The Teardown podcast, Jeff Gluck of The Athletic talked about the DVP when he revealed his five NASCAR wishes for 2024.

“I would want the genie to have helped NASCAR come up with a way to fix the DVP towing policy,” Gluck said. The genie gives them an even faster, better device or way to inflate those tires or whatever it is when the cars are stranded. We don’t have some of the controversies and some of the headaches that we saw like at Talladega or different things where people are being ruled out of races that didn’t seem necessary with a perfectly drivable car.”

Gluck’s co-host, Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic mentioned that there were three times in four playoff races when the Damaged Vehicle Policy clock became the “central storyline.” That didn’t sit well with Gluck.

“That’s annoying. It seems so unnecessary,” Gluck said. “Obviously, it’s a physics issue with this car and the tire the way it was. I just wished that the genie could just snap its fingers and alleviate this concern.”

NASCAR official talks about Damaged Vehicle Policy

Gluck mentioned Josh Berry as a victim of NASCAR’s Damaged Vehicle Policy during the Kanasas playoff race. Berry’s No. 4 car suffered minimal damages during a minor collision, but NASCAR disqualified Berry’s vehicle due to its failure to meet the towing criteria. NASCAR has previously said under the DVP, unless you have four flat tires, a tow back to pit road would mean your race is over. 

The Damaged Vehicle Policy was introduced in 2017 and allows Cup Series teams seven minutes to repair damage incurred and meet minimum speed following the repair. “We’re learning, every time it goes out there, different ways this car reacts,” NASCAR Cup Series Managing Director Brad Moran said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio after the Kansas race, per NASCAR.com. “It certainly reacts a little different in incidents and crashes. And there’s certain parts on the car that are a little weaker, but there’s definitely many parts that seem to hold in a lot better, obviously, being the body for one, which changes the game.”